A brand often described as a “modern bass” (as the presenter will state in the video below,) the Spector NS-4 has a body that’s smaller and a shape designed to be comfortable.
The pickups loaded in are EMG 35DC, touted as having ultra-low-noise (which they do.)
But in the end, do you feel it’s worth it, as the price tag is over $5,000?
Watch the video below and post your comment with your opinion.
Beautiful bass, and Stuart Spector is a master — but I’d have a tough time justifying $5000 for ANY bass.
michael tobias is a master stuart bought a design by ned steinberger and pays people to build them. he couldnt build one himself.
Ouch. Them’s fightin’ words…
stuart bought the design from ned steinberger and he pays people to build them. he would not be able to build one himself. but they are great basses
Ned Steinberger was a furniture maker, who shared a space with Stuart Spector. Stuart designed the basic shape(SB-1), Ned worked with it, reduced it’s size & added the contoured body. Stuart fine tuned it & finished it off to what is known as the NS body shape. Stuart did everything else including the neck design & electronics. Stuart showed Ned the rest of the process of how to actually build a bass from the ground up.The license to the NS body shape belongs to both Stuart & Ned. They are very good friends still. Stuart to this day designs & BUILDS basses in his Woodstock factory. Not only did Ned learn how to build from Stuart, but so did Vinny Fodera. The original Smith basses were actually built by Stuart & Vinny in Stuart’s shop. Learn your history before you put out false information on a brilliant Luthier!
FYI he says is a “quilted maple top” in the video.. it has solid quilted maple wings… not just a top..
As with all Spector’s, it is more than worth it! NS-4’s sound unreal, are extremely powerful & versatile. They play silky smooth as well.
$5K instrument, but honestly, a 50¢ demo. I guess that, like a Ferrari, if you’re in the market for one, the item sells itself.
Gotoh tuners (with Spector logo), not Hipshot tuners
Gotoh tuners (branded) and not Hipshot
FYI the “NS” stands for Ned Steinberger – its his design
Bought the five string version in the same colour in 2000 and in 15 years only played now other bass the competed with it but not enough to make me change.
very nice but not 5000 grand worth!
most of us are weekend warriors and that would take alot of gigs to pay for it
I bought an NS-4 made by Stuart Spector in 1994 (#137) in Woodstock New York after it was displayed at a NAMM show. I paid around $2,000.00 (give or take). It has a solid quilted maple body and takes two 9 volt batteries. I thought the neck was a little too chunky so I had Petros Guitars (high end acoustics) slim the neck down to the same specs as my Fodera Monarch 4 string, which made it faster and more comfortable for me to play. I had a conversation with Stuart during that time and he said he remembered making that particular bass. I mentioned Tobias basses and he said that coincidentally, he was going over to visit Michael Tobias after he hung up. Apparently all these high end New York luthiers know each other and are good friends. As a bass, the NS_4 kicks ass and is very powerful but smooth. I love playing aggressively on it and slapping it around, whereas I feel compelled to shred on the Fodera. I was at a bass clinic featuring Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey just after I bought the NS-4 and they said they were impressed by how good it sounded. Around that time, I stupidly passed up a chance to get a used Sadowsky jazz bass for a couple grand which was probably the bet sounding bass I ever played. I’m still get bummed when I think of it. 🙁